Grim Outcomes
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Takes Place after 'Truth or Consequences'. What if Tim had been more hurt than anyone realized after rescuing Ziva? Would he reover or would life as he knew it be over? And how will the others react to the possibility that he might never be the same?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of its characters.**

**Grim Outcomes**

**A/N: This story is another version of my previous story 'A Selfless Act'. I was having a difficult continuing that one so I decided to start over and write it differently. This version is a bit different, but the plot will mostly be the same. This story also contains spoilers from the episode 'Truth or Consequences. **

Tim watched as Abby and Ziva hugged before going over to his desk and sitting down. He brought his hand to his head. He was in absolute agony. His head felt like it was going to explode. He supposed it probably had to do with the massive blows to the head he'd received when he and Tony had worked to save Ziva. He was sure Tony and Ziva were dealing significant pain as well, probably even worse than he was.

Tim took opened his desk and took out a bottle of aspirin that he'd kept in the office just for occasions like this. He took two pills and quickly swallowed them.

"Headache, Probie?" Tony asked after seeing his partner take the pills.

"Ya think, DiNozzo," Tim asked sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Abby and Ziva finally broke their hug. "Are you okay?" Abby asked.

"I am fine," Ziva lied. The truth was she was very far from fine. She might have been alright physically, but emotionally she was anything but. Being tortured had taken a huge toll on her. "Thanks to all of you," she said as she looked at Gibbs, Tony, and Tim.

"It was nothing," Tony said.

"It was not nothing. You all saved my life when you did not have to. I was no longer your responsibility, but you risked your lives for me. I owe you all a debt of gratitude," Ziva said.

"We're a team, Ziva. We always will be. This is what team members do for each other," Tim said as he tried to ignore the searing pain in his head.

"Come on. I'll take you home," Gibbs told Ziva. "McGee and DiNozzo, you go home as well. Get a good night sleep. And if you don't feel up to coming in in the morning, don't," he told them before going the elevator with Ziva.

"Are the two of you alright? Have you seen a doctor?" Ducky asked.

"We're fine, Ducky. We got a bit roughed up, but we should be fine tomorrow. Right, Probie?" Tony asked.

"Right," Tim said. He was sure he'd be okay tomorrow. He just needed to sleep this headache off and he'd be fine.

"Did you see a doctor?" Ducky asked again. If they hadn't, he would have to insist on examining them. Head injuries were nothing to play around with.

"Yeah, we did. Right before coming here," Tony lied. While Gibbs had forced Ziva to get examined at the hospital, Tony and Tim had not been. He couldn't tell Ducky that though. The man would insist on an exam and Tony really just wanted to go home. He was sure McGee felt the same way.

"Well, let me at least give you both a lift home. You shouldn't be driving after what you've been through," Ducky said.

"That's not necessary, Ducky," Tim said, though it didn't sound like a bad idea. He probably shouldn't be driving with the way his head hurt.

"No arguments, Timothy. I insist," Ducky said sternly.

"Well, I know better than to argue with that," Tony said. "Come on, Probie."

Tim slowly got up and followed the others to the elevator.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, Tim found it damn near impossible to get up. His headache had still not subsided. He'd been in pain the whole night. So much so that he'd had a lot of trouble sleeping. So not only did he have a really bad headache, but he was exhausted as well.

Tim momentarily thought about calling in sick. After all, Gibbs had told them to stay home if they needed to. But he was pretty sure Tony would be going in and he refused to have him or Gibbs think of him as the wimp who couldn't work with a little headache, so he got up and started getting ready for work.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim walked off the elevator and staggered to his desk. If it was even possible, his headache seemed to have worsened since even this morning.

"Morning, Probie," Tony said.

"Stop screaming," Tim said as he put his head down on his desk.

"Did you get drunk last night? You look like someone with a massive hangover," Tony said.

"No, I look like someone who got the hell beat out of him yesterday," Tim said without even looking up. He immediately regretted his words. He was sure Tony was about to take this as an opportunity to make fun of him.

"Oh, come on, probie. I was hurt way more than you were. Suck it up, McComplainer," Tony said.

Tim looked up and glared. "Go to hell, DiNozzo!"

"Whoa. No need to get snippy, Probie. Just take some aspirin or something," Tony said.

"Gee, why didn't I think of that? Oh, wait, I did. I've exceeded my limit. I take anymore and it's going to damage my liver," Tim said before clutching his head in agony.

"Oh, don't be such a baby, McGee," Tony said.

At that moment, Tim crashed to floor and started convulsing.

"McGee!" Tony yelled in terror before running to the younger man's side. "Somebody call an ambulance!" he yelled at the other agents before focusing back on his friend. "Hang on man. It's going to okay. It's going to be alright. Just hang on.


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs walked off the elevator and into Autopsy. He found Ducky and Palmer standing over a body as usual.

"Ah, Jethro. What brings you by?" Ducky asked.

Gibbs gave Palmer a look that clearly said 'get lost'.

For once, Palmer recognized the look right away. "Um, I'm sure there's something in the office I should be doing," he said before heading towards Ducky's office.

"Is everything alright, Jethro?" Ducky asked.

"Ziva," Gibbs said simply. He'd been thinking about her since they'd brought her back. Hell, who was he kidding? He'd been thinking about her since he'd left her in Israel.

"Ah, yes, I was going to ask you about that. Is Ziva returning to NCIS?" Ducky asked.

"She hasn't asked to," Gibbs said.

"Have you asked her to return?" Ducky asked.

"No," Gibbs said. He'd thought about asking her when he'd brought her home the night before, but the things Vance told him stopped him. Ziva lied to him. She'd let him believe that she'd killed Ari to save him when it wasn't true. How was he supposed to trust her on his team after that?"

"Why not?" Ducky wondered.

Before Gibbs had a chance to answer, he heard the sound of the phone ringing, followed by Palmer's voice.

"Autopsy," Palmer said into the phone. "What? Did you call 911?"

Ducky and Gibbs immediately went towards him when they heard this. "Mr. Palmer, is something wrong?"

Palmer, meanwhile, pulled the phone away from his ear for a minute as the person on the other end started screaming at him. "Alright, we'll be right there."

"What's going on, Palmer?" Gibbs demanded to know.

Palmer hung up the phone and turned to the others with a distressed look on his face. "That was Tony. McGee just had a seizure."

"He what?" asked an alarmed Gibbs.

"Oh, good Lord," Ducky said before rushing to the elevator. Gibbs and Palmer followed closely behind.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

After hanging up with Palmer, Tony knelt back down by his partner's unconscious form. Luckily, he'd stopped seizing at least. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. You hang in there, Probie. Help's on the way. There's an ambulance on the way and I just called Ducky. You just have to hold on."

Seconds later, the elevator doors opened and Ducky came rushing out with Gibbs and Palmer trailing behind. "Anthony, move out of the way!"

Tony immediately moved so that Ducky could examine his injured teammate.

"What the hell happened, DiNozzo?" Gibbs demanded.

"I don't know, Boss. One minute we were talking and the next he was on the ground," Tony said.

"How long did he seize for?" Ducky asked as he pulled out a small flashlight and began checking Tim's eyes.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe a minute or two," Tony said.

"His pupils are unresponsive and he's not responding to stimuli," Ducky murmured. This wasn't good. They needed to get Timothy to the hospital and fast. "What happened just before the seizure? Were there any other symptoms?"

"Well, he said he had a bad headache, but I just thought he was being overdramatic," Tony said. He felt guilty as hell for that now. The last thing he said before McGee collapsed was that he was being a baby.

"How bad was the headache?" Ducky asked.

"Bad enough that painkillers weren't doing anything about it. He said he'd taken over the maximum amount of aspirin and it wasn't helping. Then right before he collapsed, he grabbed the sides of his head," Tony explained.

Ducky's face blanched even further. The more he heard, the more worried he became. There were a number of things those symptoms eluded to, and each and every one of them was more frightening than the last.

"What is it, Duck?" Gibbs asked. He didn't like the look on the doctor's face.

"We need to get him to the hospital soon, Jethro, or I'm afraid he won't survive," Ducky said gravely.

Just then, the elevator doors opened and two men appeared with a stretcher.

"Over here!" Gibbs called out to the men.

"What happened?" one of the medics asked.

"He had a seizure. Probably from a hematoma or a brain hemorrhage," Ducky said.

"He hit his head recently?"

"Yeah," Tony said.

"He apparently suffered a severe headache just before the seizure," Ducky said.

"He's had it since last night," Tony said, trying to be helpful.

"Did he wake up at all after the seizure?" the medic asked as they put him on a backboard and placed padding around his head.

"No," Tony said.

"He's been completely unresponsive,"

"You a doctor?" one of the medics asked as they placed him onto the stretcher.

"An ME, yes," Ducky said.

"You wanna come with us then?"

"Of course," Ducky said as he got ready to leave with them.

"We'll meet you at the hospital, Ducky!" Gibbs said as he watched them leave

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs and Tony made it to Bethesda ten minutes later and immediately ran into the ER. They found Ducky pacing the area. "How is he, Duck?"

Ducky turned and saw Gibbs and Tony. "Jethro, good, you're here."

"How is he?" Gibbs asked.

"No news. They're running tests now. What I don't understand is how this could've happened. Timothy was examined by a doctor last night. If something was wrong, they should've noticed then," Ducky said.

Tony looked away from the others and he felt his stomach tighten up in knots as he realized what he'd done. McGee hadn't seen a doctor. Neither of them head. And they'd lied to Ducky about it. He had to wonder what would've happened if he hadn't done that. Would McGee be okay if he'd seen the doctor, or at the very least if they'd told Ducky the truth?

Gibbs turned to Tony. "You two were together at the hospital when you got examined, right? What did the doc say?"

Tony turned and looked at his boss guiltily. "Boss, I'm sorry. I honestly didn't think we were hurt that badly. I figured we'd be okay."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. "Are you telling me you didn't see a doctor like I specifically told you to?"

"I'm sorry."

"Wait a second. You weren't examined. You told me last night that you were," Ducky reminded him.

Tony looked down in shame.

"You lied to me?" Ducky asked angrily.

"I'm so sorry, Ducky. I wanted to go home and I knew if I told you the truth, you would insist on examining us first," Tony said.

"You're damn right I wouldn't have! And this is the reason! Do you have any idea what your lie may have caused to happen! It may just cost Timothy his life!" Ducky yelled. He was more angry than he'd ever been in his life. Timothy was fighting for his life because he and Anthony had decided to lie to him and disobey Jethro.

Tony visibly flinched at the tone of Ducky's voice. He'd never heard the man yell like that. Sure, he'd heard him angry and disappointed, but he never screamed at people like that.

Gibbs was also seething. Tony and McGee had completely disobeyed him, which ultimately caused McGee to have to be rushed to the emergency room.

Gibbs angrily grabbed Tony by the collar of his shirt. "You're with me now! Ducky, come find me if anything with McGee changes. I'm taking him to be examined now."

Ducky nodded.

Gibbs then none to gently pulled Tony down the hall with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Gibbs stood to the side of the room as Tony was examined by the doctor. He was still seething inside. He didn't know what those two idiots had been thinking when they'd decided to defy his orders to see a doctor. Had they lost their minds or something?"

"Okay, I think you're going to be fine, Agent DiNozzo. I don't see any sign of serious injury. We'll run a CT scan just in case, but I think you'll be okay," the doctor said.

"Thanks, Doc," said a subdued Tony. The doctor's optimism about his condition didn't make Tony feel any better. He was worried about McGee. He was worried that their decision not to get medical attention would end up killing his partner. He would never forgive himself if it did. Yes, he knew that McGee had been right with him about skipping the exam, but he was the senior field agent. He should've set an example and insisted they both follow Gibbs' orders.

"Someone will be by soon to take you for the scan," the doctor said before walking out the door.

Gibbs looked at his agent in anger in disbelief. "What in the hell were you thinking?"

"Boss, I'm sorry. I thought it would be okay. I didn't think we were that hurt," Tony said.

"And since when do you have a medical license? You're not qualified to make that decision!" Gibbs growled. He then paced the room for a few minutes before stopping once more. "Do you even realize what has happened here? Tim could die, Tony. He could die, all because the two of you thought you knew better than me."

Tony looked down at his hands. "I know."

"You know, you should be grateful that you're even able to benefit from this lecture. Tim might not be so lucky. He may never get the chance to hear it," Gibbs said. He knew he was upsetting Tony even more than he already was upset, but he didn't care. He had a agent down the hall fighting for his life because he and his partner had decided that they were equipped to access head injuries. He needed Tony to get the severity of this. He only hoped that he would be able to the same with McGee. He hoped the other man did not pay the ultimate price for not listening to him. "I need to go check on McGee. Can I trust you to stay here and let the doctors do their jobs?"

Tony nodded without looking up.

Gibbs then turned and walked out without another word.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Ducky was sitting down in a chair in the waiting room when Gibbs came back. "Where's Anthony? How did it go with the doctor?"

"The doc thinks he's going to be fine, but he wants to do a CT scan to make sure. He's in a room waiting for that now. McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Still no word," Ducky said.

"What the hell is taking so long? It has to have been at least an hour," Gibbs said impatiently.

"Jethro, as hard as will be, you must be patient. They will tell us what is going on as soon as they know something," Ducky said. "Have you informed Abigail or Ziva of what's going on?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No, I didn't really have the chance. We rushed out of there as soon as you went with Tim in the ambulance and I haven't really had much time to even think of calling anyone. I'll call them when we know what's going on.

"Family of Timothy McGee?"

Gibbs and Ducky immediately went over to the man calling them. "How is he?"

"Let's sit down," the doctor said as he walked over to a group of chairs and sat down. "I'm Doctor Norton by the way."

"How is my agent?" Gibbs asked, skipping all the pleasantries.

"Doctor Norton sighed. "Agent McGee suffered what is known as a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage."

"Oh no," Ducky said. He knew what that was and he knew it was very serious.

"What? What is it?" Gibbs said, slightly irritated that he seemed to be the only one that didn't know what was going on with his agent.

"It's bleeding in between the brain and the tissue surrounding the brain. It's a form of stroke. It usually happens from an aneurism, but it can be the result of a head injury," Ducky said.

"How serious?" Gibbs asked.

"Very. I'm not going lie to you, Sir. Your agent's in very serious danger right now," Doctor Norton said.

"So what are you doing about it?" Gibbs asked. He didn't need to hear how much danger Tim was in. He needed to hear what was being done to help him.

"Well, we're going to take him into surgery to remove the blood," he said.

"And then he'll be alright," Gibbs said.

"I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, brain injuries are never simple. Right now, he's in a coma, he's on life support, and he's not responding to stimuli," the doctor said.

"What the hell does that mean?" asked a frustrated Gibbs.

"It's bad, Jethro. It means that he's in a very deep coma and that the likelihood of him coming out of it isn't good," Ducky said gravely.

"I wish I could tell you that that was the worst that could happen, but it's not. This condition comes with very high and very deadly complications."

"What complications?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, the biggest risk is the risk to rebleeding. Agent McGee could start hemorrhaging again and if that happens, his chances for survival will go down significantly," Doctor Norton said.

Gibbs sighed. He couldn't believe this was even happening. Tim was okay last night. At least he appeared to b. He never imagined that they'd end up here less than twenty-four hours later. "Alright, give us the rest of these complications you were talking about."

"The next serious complication is blood vessel constriction. If that happens, it could cause a very serious brain injury and can lead to severe brain damage and even death. Now we're going to give him some medication to try to prevent that from happening, but I'd be lying if I said it definitely wouldn't happen," he said.

Gibbs rubbed his eyes. "Alright, Doc, I don't care what you say. He will survive." Tim would survive this. He didn't care about odds or complications. Tim would survive. There was no other option.

"I hope you're right, Sir."

"So you take him into surgery. Then what?" Ducky asked. He knew a bit about this condition, but he was far from an expert on it.

"Then we wait. We'll give him medication to try to prevent the further complications and then it'll be up to Agent McGee," Doctor Norton said.

"When are you taking him into surgery?" Gibbs asked.

"Soon. Very soon."

"I wanna see him first," Gibbs said. He wanted to make sure Tim knew that he was to fight his way through this. Him dying was not an option.

"Well, alright, but you have to make it quick. Tim is of the essences," he said as he stood up.

Gibbs nodded and then followed the doctor down the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs walked into the cubicle that Tim was currently it. He walked over and stared at his fallen agent intently. He didn't look sick or even very injured. In fact, if it weren't for the machines and the tube down his throat, Gibbs would almost be able to convince himself that Tim was just sleeping and would wake up soon feeling absolutely fine. That wouldn't happen though, not any time soon anyway

Gibbs pulled up a chair and sat down by Tim's bedside. He then grabbed ahold of Tim's hand and leaned forward so that he was just inches away from the younger man's ear. "I know you can hear me. I don't care how deep this coma you are in is. You can hear me and you're going to listen to me. You will survive this. One stupid mistake on your part is not going to end your life. You will get through this. There is no other option. You will make it through this surgery and you will come back to us."

There was no reaction from Tim. He just continued to lay there motionless. The only sound came from the machines helping him breathe.

Gibbs leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Why did you have to choose this one time to disobey me? You know, when I tell you to do something, there's usually a good reason. If you'd just done what I asked and seen a doctor, this could've been avoided, or at the very least, it could've been found sooner. But I guess it doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that you come through this, and you will. Do you understand me? You don't have permission to die.

Just then, the door opened and a nurse and several orderlies came in. "We need to take him now," the nurse said before they came over and started to wheel Tim out.

Gibbs grabbed ahold of the railing of the bed and started walking out with them. "You remember what I said, Tim. You hang in there. You hear me?" He followed them all the way down to where the OR was before finally stopping and watching as Tim was taken out of his sight.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony went straight back to where he had been waiting for the others. He found that only Ducky was there now. "Hey, Ducky."

"Anthony," Ducky said coolly. He was still very upset with the young agent. He couldn't believe he and Timothy had lied to him. He still couldn't fathom what they'd been thinking. Had they really not seen the risk they were taking.

Tony cringed at Ducky's tone. Obviously Ducky was still mad at him. He felt about two inches tall. Ducky being angry at him felt even worse than Gibbs being angry with him. With Ducky, it came off more as disappointment, which was much worse than just anger. "Where's Gibbs?"

"With Timothy. He wished to see him before the young man was taken into surgery," Ducky answered.

Tony's eyes widened. "Surgery? He needs surgery?"

"Yes. He has a hemorrhage in his skull. They need to go in and remove the blood," Ducky said.

"But he'll be okay then, right?" Tony asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. This kind of injury is complex and unpredictable. Right now there's no way to know if he's going to survive. It's going to be a long time before we know anything," Ducky explained.

Tony's face blanched considerably. "H…he could die?"

"Yes, he could. And even if he does survive, there's the very real possibility that he won't regain consciousness, and if he does that, there's the possibility that he won't wake up the same person. Brain damage is very real possibility," Ducky said sadly.

Tony gasped and collapsed into a nearby chair. He then placed his head in his hands. "Oh God. What have I done?" This was all his fault. If he'd just gotten examined when Gibbs told him to, McGee would've as well and they wouldn't be in this mess.

Ducky sighed and then went to sit down next to Tony. "Don't get me wrong, Anthony. Your decision to skip treatment and lie to me about it was probably one of the stupidest things you've ever done, but you are not responsible for what happened to Timothy. If I made you feel like you were, I apologize."

Tony lifted his head and shook it vigorously. "No, don't apologize to me, Ducky. This is my fault. I never should've refused treatment. If I hadn't, neither would he."

"You just said it yourself, Anthony. _He_ refused. You didn't make the choice for him. He decided to take a very big risk by not seeing a doctor and now he is paying for it," Ducky said sadly. It saddened him that Timothy had had to learn this lesson the hard way. He wished he could yell at him like he did Anthony.

"I didn't think it was that bad, Ducky. I mean, we were both okay. We were fine," Tony said. He still couldn't understand this. It wasn't like they'd been in terrible shape when they finally got out of that place. They were okay. How could things have changed so quickly?

"Yes, I'm sure it seemed that way, but that's the thing about head injuries. Things can seem perfectly fine at first. All you have is a simple headache. Then suddenly it changes. Soon you find yourself in intense pain and then in very serious trouble. That's why head injuries need to be checked out immediately," Ducky explained.

"But why him? I was hurt worse than him, so was Ziva. Why was it worse for him?" Tony asked. Honestly, he wished he was the one with the devastating head injury. Better him than McGee.

"As I said, head injuries are unpredictable. One person can be hit several times and suffer no subsequent damage, while another could receive just one blow and be faced with severe consequences," Ducky said.

"Oh God. I should've done something," he said.

"Anthony, I told you-"

"No, you don't understand. Right before he collapsed, I could see that he was in pain. He was complaining about a bad headache," Tony said.

"Oh, Anthony, I doubt that those few seconds would've made much difference," Ducky said.

"But you didn't hear what I said to him. I was awful to him. The last thing I said to him was to stop being a baby. My God, what if that's the last thing I ever say to him," Tony asked. He would never forgive himself if his last words to his friend were those horrible, patronizing comments that he made.

Ducky placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You can't think like that. You must have faith in Timothy. We must believe that he's going to come back to us."

"You got that right."

They both looked up and saw Gibbs standing there.

"McGee is going to survive this. No one believes otherwise. Is that clear?" Gibbs asked in a firm voice that left no room for argument.

"Yes, Boss," Tony said.

"Of course, Jethro. I take it Timothy is in surgery now?" Ducky asked.

Gibbs nodded. I'm gonna go call the others," he said before walking away.


	5. Chapter 5

Abby ran through the halls of Bethesda. She'd gotten the call ten minutes ago that Tim had been hurt and immediately rushed over.

Abby made it to the emergency room and looked around frantically. Finally, she spotted Gibbs, Ducky, and Tony. "Gibbs!"

Gibbs barely had time to stand up and turn around before Abby flew into his arms. "It's okay, Abbs."

Abby let go after a minute. "What happened? Where's Timmy? Is he okay?"

"Slow down, Abbs. I will explain everything, but first I wanna wait for Ziva," Gibbs said. He didn't want to go through everything more than once. It was going to be hard enough the first time.

"Well, where is she? She needs to get here now," Abby said impatiently.

"She is," Tony said as she looked past them to where Ziva had come in.

"Ziva approached them. "I am here, Gibbs? What is going on? Who is hurt?" Gibbs had not told her what had happened when he called. He had just told her to get to the hospital.

"It's Timmy," Abby said before turning back to Gibbs. "Is he okay? Jimmy told me that he had a seizure." She'd actually just been about to leave for the hospital when Gibbs called and told her to do just that.

"He's in surgery," Gibbs told them.

Abby's eyes widened in horror. "Surgery? It's that bad?"

"What happened, Gibbs?" Ziva asked.

"He has a hemorrhage in his brain," Gibbs told them.

Ziva's face blanched. "Th…that is from the head injury, yes?"

Gibbs nodded.

Ziva forced herself to look away as guilt started to show. This had happened because of her. Because McGee had risked his life to save her.

"Ziva, look at me," Gibbs ordered. When she made no move to do so, he took her by the arm and turned her around himself. "I know what you're thinking and don't even go there. Tim made a choice. We all made a choice. Tim knew the risks of what he was doing and he did it anyway. He did it because he cared about you and his conscience wouldn't allow him not to. No matter what happens, it wasn't your fault."

"What do you mean 'no matter what happens'? Gibbs, are you saying Timmy could die?" Abby asked fearfully.

Ducky was the one to answer. "Yes. Timothy's life is in serious danger right now. However, he is in good hands. We must have faith that he will survive."

"McGee will come through this. He knows I'll kick his ass if he doesn't," Gibbs said.

"So what do we do now?" Abby asked.

"Now we wait," Ducky said.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, Team Gibbs was still waiting for news on Tim's condition. "What's taking so long?" Abby asked as she began to get impatient.

"Abigail, you must be patient. They will let us know what's going on as soon as they are able," Ducky said.

"But what if something went wrong or something?" Abby asked.

Before Ducky got a chance to reply, Tony stood up and said, "Here he comes."

They all stood up and raced over to the doctor.

"Agent McGee survived the surgery," Doctor Norton said.

There was a collection of sighs all around. "Is he going to be okay?" Abby asked

"it's way too soon to tell. He's still on life support and he's not responding to stimuli. We're going to be keeping a close watch on him for a while. Hopefully we will be able to prevent any complications from arising and he'll begin to come out of his coma. However, you all need to be prepared. Even if your friend does wake up, the likelihood of him making a full recovery are slim," Doctor Norton said.

"But not impossible," Tony said.

"No, not impossible. But I'd be lying to you if I told you it was at all likely. I haven't seen many come back from this kind of injury the same," the doctor said.

There was deafening silence for several seconds. Finally, Tony spoke. "Can we see him?"

"Of course. Just two at a time though and just for a few minutes for right now. A nurse will be out in a minute to take you to his room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Ducky and Abby went in first. Abby covered her mouth to suppress a sob. He looked awful. His head was covered by bandages and he had a tube down his throat. She knew he would be, but she still wasn't prepared for it.

Abby went over to the bed and placed her hand in Tim's. "Oh, Timmy. What'd they do to you? This isn't supposed to happen to you. You don't get hurt like this." As long as she'd known him, Tim had never been seriously hurt. Sure, he'd been injured a few times, but never like this. Never so bad that there was a question of whether or not he was going to survive. "You have to get better, okay?"

She brought her hand to her mouth again and started crying. Unable to take it anymore, she ran from the room.

Ducky stepped forward and placed a hand on Tim's arm. "She's worried about you, Timothy. We all are. I don't know what you were thinking when you chose not seek treatment for your injuries. It was a very unwise decision. It saddens me that you are having to pay so steeply for it," Ducky said. He wished more than anything that things hadn't turned out this way. He wished he was able to scold Timothy the way he had Anthony. Instead, the young man was suffering much steeper consequences. "You must come back to us, Timothy. Don't let this mistake cost you your life. Alright, well, I know that the others would like a few moments with you so I'm going to go."

Once Ducky left, Tony and Ziva walked in. Ziva immediately went over and sat by her friend's side. She was silent for several seconds before finally speaking. "You should not be here. You would not be here if you hadn't come after me."

"Ziva-"

"Do not say it is not my fault, Tony. We both know it is," Ziva said without even looking back at him. "If I had just gotten on that plane with you and Gibbs, none of this would've happened."

"Ziva, it's not your fault. It's mine," Tony said.

Ziva finally turned around and looked at him in shock. "Your fault?"

"Gibbs told us to get checked out by a doctor. We didn't do it. If I had just listened to Gibbs, he would've too. I'm supposed to be the senior field agent. I'm supposed to set the example," Tony said guiltily.

"It is not your fault, Tony. None of it was your fault," Ziva said pointedly. She was of course talking about the stuff with Michael as well.

There was a brief silence before Tony turned to Tim. "I'm sorry, Probie. I should've looked after you better. And I never should've said those things I said this morning. I promise if you get better, I won't let you down again. Please come back to us."

Ziva stood up. "He will. He has to. Come on. I'm sure Gibbs is waiting for his turn." The both said their goodbyes and left the room.

Finally, Gibbs came in. He walked over to the chair by the bed and sat down. "Nice job, McGee. You made it through surgery. Now you gotta keep fighting. It's not over yet. You gotta keep going until you come all the way back to us. You hear me? This is the biggest and most important one of your life. And you will win. I'll make sure of it. I'm gonna be here every day, busting your ass until you open your eyes and come back to us. You think I'm bad at work? You haven't seen nothing yet," he said with a smirk on his face. "Alright, I'm gonna go, but I'll be back. In the meantime, you keep fighting." He then stood up and walked out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Sarah McGee frantically ran through the halls of the hospital towards her brother's room. She'd gotten a call from Agent Gibbs saying that Tim was badly injured. She rushed over right away.

Sarah was coming to Tim's room when Gibbs came over and took her by the arms. "Agent Gibbs, where is he. Is he okay?"

"He's in there," Gibbs said as he nodded towards the room just inches away from them.

"I have to see him," Sarah said as she made a move to go inside.

Gibbs kept his grip on Sarah's arms. "Sarah, I know you wanna see your brother, but you have to be prepared. He doesn't look good."

"What do you mean? What happened?" asked a frightened Sarah.

"Recently, Tim was involved in a mission that got him hit over the head. Now we thought he was okay at first, but apparently we were wrong. He had a hemorrhage in his brain," Gibbs explained.

"But they took care of it, right? He's going to be okay, isn't he?" Sarah asked. Tim had to be okay. She couldn't live with anything happening to her brother. She just couldn't.

"We don't know. Right now he's in a coma and the doctors are worried that complications will arise, and that even if they don't, he won't wake up," Gibbs said. He hated having to tell her that, but she deserved the truth even if it wasn't good.

"S…so he could die," Sarah squeaked.

"He could, but I personally don't think he will," Gibbs said. Tim wouldn't die. He would not allow that. He would make sure his agent came back to them.

"I need to see him," Sarah said.

Gibbs nodded. He then led her into Tim's hospital room.

Sarah looked at her brother sadly for a minute before going to his side and taking his hand. "Hey, big brother. What are you doing, huh? What are you doing in a place like this? You don't belong here. You're supposed to be at home right now. You're supposed to be calling me like three times a week annoying the crap out of me," she said as an attempt at humor. Then she got really serious. "Tim, you have to wake up. You have to come back to me. I can't lose you to."

Gibbs looked at Sarah strangely after that comment. What had she meant by that? Who else had she lost?

Sarah turned back to Gibbs with tears in her eyes. "I've never seen him like this. He looks so helpless."

"He's gonna get better, Sarah. He has to. Listen, I've been trying to find a way to get a hold of your parents, but I've been coming up empty," Gibbs said.

"That's because they're dead. Mom died in an accidental fire several years ago and Dad was killed in combat last year," Sarah said sadly. That was why she couldn't bear to lose Tim. She'd already lost so much. She couldn't lose him to.

Gibbs was shocked. He'd never known. Tim had been an orphan for a year now and Gibbs had never known. "He never said anything."

"That doesn't surprise me. Tim wouldn't have wanted you to feel sorry for him. That would've just made things worse for him," Sarah said. She then turned back to her brother. "He's all I have left now. I can't lose him too."

Gibbs walked forward and placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "You won't. Tim knows he can't die. He knows that there are too many people counting on him to come back to us."

"I hope you're right."

"Listen, Sarah, there's something you should know. The doctor said that even if Tim wakes up, there's a very large possibility that he won't be the same," Gibbs said. He wasn't sure he should put that on her know, but after thinking about it, he knew he couldn't keep it from her.

Sarah turned around with fear all over her face. "What do you mean?"

"He suffered a brain injury. There's very big possibility that he could have permanent brain damage," Gibbs said sadly.

Sarah's eyes widened even further than they already were. This couldn't be happening. It just kept getting worse. First she finds out that her brother is critically injured and now she's finding out that even if he did survive, he probably wouldn't be the same guy she'd known all her life. "Oh God."

"Hey, we don't know for sure that it'll happen. He could end up waking up just fine," Gibbs said optimistically.

"Or he could wake up severely disabled. That's if he wakes up at all," Sarah cried.

"Sarah, you have to believe that he's going to be okay. Even if you can't believe he's going to wake up the same, believe he's going to live," Gibbs said. Even he wasn't sure Tim was going to wake up the same as before, but he did believe he would live.

Just then, Tim's body began convulsing.

"Oh God! What's happening!" Sarah yelled.

Gibbs immediately rushed to the door and yelled outside. "I need some help in here!"

Seconds later, doctors and nurses rushed in. "You two need to wait outside," Doctor Norton said..

"I'm not going anywhere. That's my brother," Sarah protested.

"Yeah, come on. We have to let them do their jobs," Gibbs said as took her by the arms and took her out of the room.

As soon as they were out of the room, Sarah broke down in tears. Gibbs grabbed ahold of her and held her as she cried.


	7. Chapter 7

Gibbs was still holding Sarah when the doctor came back out. He slowly pulled out of the embrace and walked towards the man. "How is he?"

"He's stable. He did have a seizure, but we've given him anticonvulsants," Doctor Norton said.

"Why did it happen? Did his brain start bleeding again?" Gibbs asked. He had to ask. This was what had happened earlier at the office.

"No. Sometimes with this condition, seizures occur during the patient's recovery. This appears to be one of those cases. But we're going to keep him on anticonvulsants to try to prevent any further seizures. I won't lie though. They're not a hundred percent affective. It's possible that he'll have more," Doctor Norton explained.

"How long before we know he's going to be okay?" Sarah asked.

"It'll be a while," he said.

"Days?" Gibbs asked.

"Longer. I'm sorry. I know this is hard, but it's going to be a very long road," the doctor told him.

"And we're just supposed to wait?" Gibbs asked. He hated waiting. He wasn't a very patient person under normal circumstances, never mind when one of his people was facing life threatening situations.

"Unfortunately, that's all we can do. Wait and pray," Doctor Norton said.

"What's going to happen to him when he wakes up?" Sarah asked. She hadn't been able to get that whole brain damage thing out of her head. She needed to know what the chances were of that happening, and if it did happen, what would he be like then?

"We won't know that until he wakes up, but as I explained to Agent Gibbs, the chances of him waking up the same are slim," Doctor Norton said.

"So you can't tell us how bad it'll be?"

"I'm afraid not. Everyone is different. We won't be able to assess the damage until he wakes up," he said.

"Can we go back in?" Gibbs asked.

"Of course," the doctor said before walking away.

"Um, I think I need to get some air before I go back in there," Sarah said. She was really upset and she didn't want to fall apart in front of Tim. It didn't matter that he couldn't see her. She didn't want to lose it with him in the room.

"You want some company?" Gibbs asked. He was hesitant to leave her alone. He could tell how upset she was and he wasn't sure she should be alone.

"No. I need a few minutes to myself. I'll be back in a minute," Sarah said before walking away.

Gibbs walked into Tim's room and took the chair by his side. He then grabbed his hand. "You just gave us one hell of a scare. Don't ever do that again. I believe I made myself perfectly clear when I said you were to get better, not worse. But no matter, you will get better. You're a fighter. I knew that about you the day I met you."

Gibbs leaned forward a little and began smoothing the blankets around his agent. "I know I gave you a hard time when we first met. But I wouldn't have done that if I didn't think you were worth it. I don't bother with people unless I think they're worth my time. You were worth it." He would never regret taking Tim onto his team. It was one of the best decisions he'd ever made.

"You know, you were the first and only real probie I'd ever taken onto my team? There have been people knew to the agency, but never anyone as green as you were. Every other one of my agency, past and present, had law enforcement or military training. You were the first and only one that didn't have either of those things. The truth is I never ever intended to take on a rookie. I made a policy against it. It took too much time and work, time that could be better spent elsewhere. Then I met you. And I recognized something inside of you. You were green as hell, but you had a determination that was so fierce that I knew I had to have you on my team. I had to take the time and do the work to help you become the agent you were meant to be. Rule five. Don't waste good. And you were good. At least I knew you could be if given the chance. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that you're a fighter. You fought like hell to prove you belonged on my team and you do. Now you have to take on a new fight. A much harder fight. You have to fight to survive," Gibbs said.

Just then, Gibbs heard the door open. He turned and saw Sarah. "Hey. You okay?"

"I'll be better when he wakes up," Sarah said. She was still pretty upset, but now she was more confident that she wouldn't break down.

"He will. We were just talking about that actually. I was telling him that he has to wake up. And he knows better than to disobey a direct order," Gibbs said.

Sarah laughed a little. "You know, he'd probably kill me for telling you this, but he admires you a lot. He thinks of your whole team as like a second family."

"We are one," Gibbs said without hesitation. He didn't see his agents as just agents. Their team was a family. They worked together like a family should and they came together like a family when it really mattered. Hell, they even talked to each other like family members.

"Good. He's going to need as much family as he can get when he wakes up. If he wakes up," she corrected herself sadly.

"Nope. You were right the first time. _When _he wakes up," Gibbs said as he stood up. "I'm gonna go get coffee. Do you need anything?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Alright. I'll be right back," he said before walking out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Gibbs was sitting at his desk at NCIS. It had been over a month since Tim was hospitalized. Everyone, including Ziva had gone back to work. Well, everyone except for Tim. He was still in a coma and his condition hadn't changed much. His life was no longer in danger, but he still wasn't showing any signs of waking up. The doctors had pretty much given up hope of him over waking up. They were now saying that Tim would probably remain in permanent vegetative state. Gibbs wasn't buying that though. Tim was going to wake up. He wasn't sure how or when, but he would.

Soon, Tony approached Gibbs' desk and handed him a letter.

Gibbs looked at the folded piece of paper and then looked back up at Tony. "What's this?" He had a feeling he knew the answer though and if he was right, he was going to kill DiNozzo for even thinking about this.

"My letter of resignation, Boss. I'm leaving NCIS," Tony said. He'd been thinking long and hard about everything since Tim had gotten hurt. He couldn't just pretend like everything was okay. His actions had put his partner in an irreversible coma. He couldn't continue to stay at NCIS knowing that. He couldn't look at the other man's desk every day knowing that he was the reason it was empty.

"The hell you are! With me! Now!" Gibbs growled. He then led the way to towards the interrogation rooms. He went inside Interrogation One and nodded for Tony to do the same. He then slammed the door behind him. "What the hell is this? What makes you think I'm going to let you quit?"

"Why would you want me to stay after what I did? It's my fault that we lost McGee," Tony said.

"First of all, we did not lose McGee. He's not dead," Gibbs said.

"Right because being in a permanent coma is so much better," Tony said sarcastically.

"Who says it's permanent? Some doctor who doesn't know the first thing about him? McGee is going to wake up," Gibbs said forcefully. He refused to believe otherwise and he refused to let anyone else believe otherwise.

"Even if he does, it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change the fact that it's my fault," Tony said sadly.

Gibbs sighed. "Look I'm not going to stand here and tell you you didn't make a mistake. You should've gotten examined like I ordered you to. You didn't. That's on you. Tim didn't either. That's on him."

"But If I had-"

"If you had what? If you had gotten treatment he would've too? Yeah, maybe. And if I had forced Ziva onto the plane back in Israel none of this would've been necessary. If Eli David had actually thought about his daughter's safety, none of this would've happened. We could probably go around all day coming up with 'what ifs'. It won't make a damn bit of difference. What happened happened. We can hate it all we want, but we can't change it," Gibbs said. he needed to get Tony to stop playing the 'what if' game. he knew from experience that it only made things worse.

"I don't know what to do, Boss. I just feel so damn guilty. Every time I look at his desk, I feel like I'm going to lose it," Tony said.

"You think you're the only one? You think we all don't feel his absence? That we all don't feel a certain level of guilt over what happened?" Gibbs asked. He felt little guilty as well. He knew he shouldn't but he did.

"It's not your fault, Boss," Tony said. He couldn't understand why his Boss would blame himself. He'd had no part of what happened, except for saving all of their necks.

"It's not yours either," he said.

"But I-"

"Tony, choices have consequences. That's why this happened. Because of a series of choices. Ziva's choice to go on the mission for Mossad, mine to send you and McGee in there after her, yours and McGee's to not receive treatment. In the end, the only person responsible for what happened was the bastard terrorist who hit him. Let it go, Tony," Gibbs said.

"I don't know how," Tony said.

"Well, you're going to have to figure it out because I'm not gonna let you quit. Not over something that you had no control over. So you're going to have to do whatever you have to do to deal with this. When you're ready, come back to your desk," Gibbs said before leaving the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony walked into Tim's room and took a seat by his side. "Hey, man. I know it's been a while since I've come by. I'm really sorry about that." He hadn't really gone to see his partner since the first week after his friend was admitted.

"I just couldn't bring myself to face you, you know? Not while knowing that I help put you here. Everyone says it wasn't my fault, but I feel like it is. We both know you would've seen that doctor if I had too. And if you had, maybe thins would've been different. Maybe they would've caught it sooner and you would've fared better. I don't know. All I know is that you're here in the bed when you shouldn't be," Tony said as his voice started to crack.

He wiped his eyes and then took Tim's hand. "I need you to wake up, man. I need you back," he said as he started to cry once more, He laid his head down by his friend's legs. He stayed there for a minute before feeling something moved. He picked up his head and looked down in shock. McGee had just moved his leg.


	9. Chapter 9

Tony looked at Tim in shock. He wondered for a minute if he was just imagining what he felt. Then he saw his friend's hand twitch. "Tim? You moved. You did it. Come on, wake up."

Tim's eyes then began to open.

Tony smiled for the first time in over a month. "Hey, man. You did it. You came back to us."

Tim blinked a couple of times and then he started fighting the ventilator.

"Whoa. Hey, calm down. You've got a tube down your throat," Tony told him.

If Tim heard him, he didn't show it. He continued to squirm and try to fight the ventilator.

"Tim, you've gotta calm down," Ton said before reaching over him and pressing the call button.

Seconds later, doctors and nurses came in. "What hap… Oh."

"He just woke up," Tony said.

"Agent McGee, my name's Doctor Norton. I need you to calm down so I can take the tube out. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

There was no response from Tim except to keep fighting.

"Okay, we gotta hold him down. You need to wait outside," he told Tony.

"What? No. I'm not going anywhere," Tony said.

"Sir, you have to go," the nurse said as she pushed Tony towards the door.

"But-"

"Please just let us do our jobs," the nurse said.

Tony hesitated, but reluctantly walked outside. He went out into the hallway and immediately started pacing.

"Tony."

Tony stopped and saw Gibbs coming towards him. "Boss, thank God you're here. He's awake."

"What?" Gibbs asked surprised.

Tony smiled. "He woke up, Boss. I felt him move and then he just woke up. He kind of freaked out though when he realized that tube was down his throat."

"That's normal," Gibbs said, speaking from experience. He knew what it was like to wake up like that. It wasn't fun. "He woke up though. That's what matters. I told you he would wake up."

Just then, the doctor walked out.

"How is he?" Tony asked.

"Well, we were able to get the tube out that calmed him down a little, but then he started to get upset again. I think it's because he can't seem to speak," Doctor Norton said.

"He can't talk?" asked a horrified Tony.

They then heard yelling and fighting from the other room.

"Let me talk to him. I can calm him down," Gibbs said. He was asking, but one way or another, he was going into that room to help his agent.

The doctor nodded.

Gibbs immediately walked through the door and pushed past the nurses. "Out of my way."

Tim desperately clutched at Gibbs' arms when he was in reaching distance. He tried to talk, but all that came out were incoherent sounds.

Gibbs gently grabbed Tim's arm with his other hand. "Hey, it's okay. Calm down. You're alright."

Tim continued to breath very heavily and he looked at Gibbs with a scared, desperate expression on his face.

"It's okay. I know you're scared, but it's going to be alright. I promise," Gibbs said.

Tim's breathing started to become a bit more regular and he loosened his grip a bit.

"That's it. Good boy," Gibbs said as he gently took Tim's hand and laid it at his side. He then placed his own head on top of Tim's. "I know things seem pretty bad right now, but it's going to be alright. I promise things will start to make sense soon. Now I'm going to be right outside talking to your doctor. I'll be right back, okay?"

When Tim didn't respond, he took that to mean it was okay if he left for a few minutes. He followed the doctor back outside.

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs. You were good in there," Doctor Norton said.

"He's just scared. He needed to know things would be alright," Gibbs said

"Will they though? Why can't he talk?" Tony asked.

"Well, we're going to run some tests, but my guess is that either the part of his brain that works to express language has been significantly damaged or that he has simply forgotten how," the doctor explained.

"So either way it's brain damage," Tony said sullenly.

"Yes. I'm afraid that it is very likely that Agent McGee has suffered brain damage. We'll know more after the tests though," he said.

"Will he ever speak again?" Gibbs asked.

"It's difficult to say right now. He might be able to relearn that particular skill, but he might not. Look, let's just wait until we do the CT scans and the cognitive tests and then we'll see where we are and where to go from here," doctor Norton said.

"And when will that be?" Gibbs asked.

"We're gonna do the CT scans tonight. The cognitive tests take a while though and they can be very tiring for patients, so we're going to wait until morning," the doctor said.

"I wanna see him before you run the tests," Gibbs said. He wanted to try to explain to Tim what was going to happen to him.

"Of course. Just make it quick."

Gibbs nodded and walked back inside Tim's room. He sat down next to Tim and took his hand. Tim still looked really scared, but he was much calmer now. "Hey, buddy. I know you're still scared, but I promise things are gonna be alright. Now the doctors are going to take you for some tests. And you don't have to be scared. It's not gonna hurt or anything. They just want to make sure you're okay. I'm gonna be here when you get back, alright?"

A couple of nurses came in a second later. "We have to take him now."

Gibbs nodded and stood up. He went to let go of Tim's hand, but the other man was holding it tightly. "You gotta let go now, Tim. You need to let the doctor's do their jobs. It'll be alright, I promise."

Tim slowly relinquished his hold on Gibbs' hand.

"There ya go. It's gonna be fine. I'll right outside when you come back, alright?" Gibbs asked. As expected, he didn't receive a reply, so he just walked away.


	10. Chapter 10

A couple of hours later, the rest of the team plus Sarah were sitting in the waiting room waiting for news about Tim. Needless to say, more than a few of them were getting impatient.

"What's taking so long?" Abby asked.

"These tests take time, Abigail," Ducky said.

"He's awake, Abs. Take comfort in that," Gibbs told her.

"But you said he can't speak, right? God, that's gotta scare the crap out of him," Sarah said. She knew her brother well. He wouldn't have responded to waking up with no voice. Though she supposed no one would.

"Yeah, he's scared, but he'll be okay," Gibbs said. He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more, Sarah or himself.

Just then, the doctor came out to greet them. Gibbs immediately stood up. "What's going on, Doc?"

"Let's sit down," Doctor Norton said before sitting in a chair in front of everyone.

Gibbs retook his seat next to Sarah.

"How is he?" Tony asked.

"He's alright. He's sleeping at the moment. We took some more scans and reviewed the initial ones," Doctor Norton said.

"And?" Gibbs pushed.

"They reveal significant damage to his frontal and parietal lobes," the doctor said sadly.

Ducky sighed sadly. He was probably the only one there that understood what the doctor was saying. A part of him wished he didn't. "The damage to his parietal lobe. The left side?"

"Yes," Doctor Norton said.

"Alright, for those of us who aren't doctors, would someone explain?" Gibbs asked impatiently.

"The parietal lobe damage is what's affecting his speech. He's most likely suffering from what is called Gerstmann's Syndrome. Aphasia is often associated with that," the doctor said.

"Aphasia?" Ziva asked confused.

"It means he can't speak," Sarah said glumly.

"Well, no, not exactly. Aphasia is the interference with communication in general. It's not limited to just speaking. Someone who suffers from it could have issues with speaking, reading and writing, understanding others, or all of the above," Doctor Norton explained.

"Well, he understood me when I spoke to him," Gibbs said.

"Yes. It appears that his understanding of language is intact," he said.

"What about the reading and writing aspect?" Sarah asked. That scared her. Tim loved reading and writing. He was an author for God's sake.

"We won't know about that until we conduct cognitive tests. Now there are other issues to be considered here. Gerstmann's syndrome can cause problems when it comes to understanding math calculations, confusion with right and left, and difficulty identifying fingers. Additionally, damage to the left side of the parietal lobe can cause what we call agnosia, which is when objects aren't perceived the way they're supposed to be," Doctor Norton explained.

"Oh my God. Can this get any worse?" Tony asked. This was unbelievably horrible. His friend's life as he knew it was essentially over, all because Tony decided that they were okay enough not to receive medical treatment right away.

"Unfortunately it can, Anthony. He's only gotten to the first part of the injured brain," Ducky said sadly.

"Yeah, you mentioned another part of his brain," Gibbs said to the doctor.

"Yes, the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is where most of our cognitive abilities come from, which means it's also where most of Agent McGee's problems will stem from."

If it was even possible everyone's faces became even more grim than they already were. "What kind of problems are we talking about?" Gibbs finally asked.

"Well, I don't want to fully go into it until we know for sure what we're dealing with, but the types of things I've seen in the past with this kind of thing are motor skills issues, difficulty concentrating, loss of problem solving skills, memory. The list goes on. We won't know for sure until we assess him," Doctor Norton said.

"No, his memory is fine. He recognized me, I know he did," Gibbs said. Even though Tim couldn't speak, the look on his face and the way he regarded him told him he knew him. His memory was intact.

"That's just long term memory, Jethro. There's a possibility that his short term memory was affected," Ducky told him.

"Is it possible that he won't suffer any of the affects you mentioned?" Tony asked. He had to cling to the doctor being wrong. His friend couldn't possibly be that adversely affected.

"No, there isn't?" he told him. "The frontal lobe was significantly damaged. It's simply impossible for him not to suffer affects from that."

"But you can do something, yes? You must be able to do something to help him," Ziva said pleadingly. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if nothing could be done. This happened because of her. Tony and McGee put themselves in harm's way to help her. McGee was injured so devastatingly because of her.

The doctor sighed. "Okay, I'm just going to come out and say it. Agent McGee has suffered severe brain damage. I know that's difficult to hear, but it's true. Now, with some therapy, some of the deficits he suffers from may improve, but some won't. And improvement doesn't mean cure. There is no cure. I'm sorry."

"So you're saying his life is over?" Tony asked in despair.

"No, of course not. Look, it's true that life will never be the same for him, but that doesn't mean it's over. He'll just have to find a new normal," the doctor explained.

Gibbs sighed. This was worse than he anticipated. He knew there was a chance that there would be brain damage, but he never thought it would be this bad. And they didn't even really know how bad it was. He knew one thing for sure though. Tim was going to need a lot of help and he would make sure he got it.

"When will we know the full extent?" Ducky asked.

"We're going to do the cognitive tests tomorrow morning. We should know more of what we're dealing with then," Doctor Norton said.

"Okay. Thanks, Doc," Gibbs said.

"Not a problem. If you have any more question, feel free to come find me," he said before walking away


End file.
